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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nI fell in love\ncompletely with Natural History after my first ever placement at the Cambridge\nUniversity Museum of Zoology in 2017, so was super excited when I got Loki as\nan object last year. I’ve loved the challenges he’s presented me, and how much\ndifference the treatment has made-he’s one of the first objects I’ve been truly\nproud of since I came to Cardiff, which is one reason why I have a soft spot\nfor him. I think another reason I love him as an object is because of how close\nhe is to a human-he’s completely unlike an iron nail or broken ceramic, he has\na face, he has human-like features, and that probably makes him more relatable,\nespecially as he was in such a poor condition when he came to me. I’m a\nsympathetic person anyway, and I guess I passed this sympathy onto Loki after\nseeing how sad it was that he was in the condition he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emily Franks, MSc\nProfessional Conservation<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Japanese dollhouse from Bristol Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After a year and more working\non iron I thought I’d take a different route towards the end of my time at\nCardiff and fell in love with this Japanese house model. Small, intricate,\nwooden and full of interesting features such as working sliding doors and a\nsmall staircase at the back, I found it a joy to name the different features of\nthe house in both Japanese and English and determine the best way to clean and\nreassemble the house. It’ll prove to be a nice challenge away from inorganics\nand I’m already excited to see the changes that cleaning will bring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olivia Haslam, MSc\nConservation Practice (2nd<\/sup> year)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bronze relief of St. Cecilia (family heirloom)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This bronze relief of Saint Cecilia (patron of music) is one\nof my two family heirlooms, passed to me by my grandmother before she passed\naway. I started the cleaning process to remove layers of Brasso. I could\nimagine her, dutifully cleaning the silver surface with strict periodicity, as\nshe was a stern woman. Once I finished the process, I could clearly see the\nsaint\u2019s features. Maybe it was me, but it was like seeing a portrait of my\ngrandmother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Years of poor storage has passed as I have been travelling\naround the world. Now I have it with me in the UK, and it is time to clean it\nonce more, following my grandmother\u2019s cleaning regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paz Tejada Urbina, MSc\nCare of Collections<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pocket watch fragment treated at Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was given to me described as “crushed copper disc” and for the first day of cleaning I had no idea of what it was. It wasn’t until I started uncovering some numbers that I realized it was the face of a pocket watch. It is my favorite object I’ve worked on because\u00a0the work I did was not only conserving it, but discovering what it really was under that corrosion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Rincavage, MSc\nConservation Practice (1st<\/sup> year)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Albatross from Royal Albert Memorial Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The big albatross is the most impressive object I had conserved during my placement at Royal Albert Memorial Museum. It took my partner and me few days on cleaning, aligned the feathers and consolidated some part of the plinth. I also did some solvent tests to try to remove dirt and yellow stains on feathers. Working on these birds needs good observation, patience and careful skills. It is really interesting and a precious experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Shyanne Chen, MSc Conservation Practice (2nd<\/sup> year)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Archaeological stained glass from Dominican Blackfriary in Trim, Co.\nMeath<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My favourite object is actually one of my most recent ones \u2013\na decorated piece of mediaeval stained glass that\u2019s part of the large\nBlackfriary stained glass assemblage from Ireland, which the Cardiff University\nConservation department has been treating. What I love most is the stunning\npink colour that you get when you shine a light through it! When I look at pieces like these, I can\u2019t\nhelp but imagine how beautiful the original windows would have looked when they\nwere intact, and this object seems especially appropriate for Valentine\u2019s Day,\nas it\u2019s broken into a heart-like shape as well! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriella Cortes, MSc\nConservation Practice (1st<\/sup> year)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Love comes in many forms…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cardiff students work with a wide variety of objects at the university lab, on placements or other volunteering opportunities. It's difficult to pick a favourite object - like choosing a […]","protected":false},"author":1682,"featured_media":1533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,2,6],"tags":[78,31],"class_list":["post-1526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-cu-conservation","category-internships-and-placements","category-objects-and-treatments","tag-choose-love","tag-objects"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4fDDX-oC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2160,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/welcome-to-a-new-year-in-the-cuconservation-labs-handy-blog-posts-to-read\/","url_meta":{"origin":1526,"position":0},"title":"Welcome to a new year in the CUConservation labs: Handy blog posts to read","author":"Courtney Lyons","date":"October 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to a new academic year in the CU Conservation labs!! If you are a new student looking for what to expect in the lab, with object treatments or you are a prospective student looking for some more information about studying conservation before you apply, here are a few blog\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "About CU Conservation"","block_context":{"text":"About CU Conservation","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/about-cu-conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":508,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/summer-placement-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":1526,"position":1},"title":"Summer Placement Round-up","author":"Aliza Taft","date":"June 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Conservation students, MSc and BSc, at Cardiff are required to do 8 weeks of\u00a0summer placement between years, supported by a stipend from the University. Luckily, the department has cultivated some amazing connections with museums around the UK,\u00a0 and even some in the US and Greece. Many of these connections come\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Internships and Placements"","block_context":{"text":"Internships and Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/internships-and-placements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2016\/03\/cardiff-uni2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2204,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/conserving-viking-archaeology-part-1-the-batch-treatment-of-iron-finds-from-the-site-of-the-great-army-encampment-at-st-wystans-church-repton\/","url_meta":{"origin":1526,"position":2},"title":"Conserving Viking Archaeology Part 1: The Batch Treatment of Iron Finds from the Site of the Great Army Encampment at St Wystan\u2019s Church, Repton","author":"Sorcha Riby","date":"January 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In 865, The Great Army, a 3000-strong pan-Viking force, arrived on the Kent coast. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the force reached Repton, Derbyshire in 874, and established a long-term camp. Once the Mercian king fled the country, the Vikings took control of Mercia, and later incorporated East Mercia into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "About CU Conservation"","block_context":{"text":"About CU Conservation","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/about-cu-conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Four students wearing white lab coats are standing around a long tablet covered in cutting mats and a large lightbox. A box containing many bags of corroded iron objects in open in front of them. 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As I headed into my internship at Bolton Museum I expected and prepared myself for a lot of practical desk work within the lab. While I absolutely love doing work in the lab, I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cabinet of Curiosities"","block_context":{"text":"Cabinet of Curiosities","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/cabinet-of-curiosities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170712_151806-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170712_151806-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170712_151806-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170712_151806-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170712_151806-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/08\/IMG_20170712_151806-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":343,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/a-greek-tale\/","url_meta":{"origin":1526,"position":5},"title":"A Greek Tale: Sun, Sand, and Professional Development","author":"Sarah James","date":"January 11, 2017","format":"image","excerpt":"Plane, Bus, Taxi, and Coach\u2026 And that\u2019s just what got me to the station in Volos, Greece for my summer placement within the conservation department of the Archaeological Ephotate of Larisa. As I was getting off the 4-hour coach ride from Athens to Volos, eagerly looking for someone I had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Internships and Placements"","block_context":{"text":"Internships and Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/category\/internships-and-placements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2017\/01\/15970569_10207641852109989_840193128_n.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/228\/2020\/02\/valentine-6.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1682"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1526"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1551,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions\/1551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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